Jeffrey Lindenblatt's Paper Trends: The 300 for 1993 -- Winners and Losers

 The daily panel Herman ended on July 26, 1992, freeing up 52 slots in our papers for other features. This is a preview of what will happen in an even bigger way in the comics landscape in January 1995 when Far Side ends. Not surprisingly, the top three gainers are all daily panel strips. Real Life Adventures gained 17 papers, Farcus gained 15 and Far Side gained 12. Also, like last year, girl power is still strong with For Better or For Worse gaining 11 papers and Cathy gaining 7. Here is the breakdown of the big gainers this year:

Real Life Adventures – 17
Farcus - 15
Far Side – 12
For Better or For Worse – 11
Cathy – 7
Sally Forth – 6
Fox Trot – 6
Dilbert - 6
Arlo and Janis - 5

The strips that are losing papers this year are a mix of new strips and veterans. In the new strip category Pogo loses 8 papers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles loses 6 papers. On the veteran side the biggest losers were Wizard of Id with 8, Family Circus and Shoe with 7. Here is the breakdown:

Wizard of Id – 8
Pogo - 8
Family Circus – 7
Shoe – 7
Hi and Lois - 6
Marvin – 6
Heathcliff – 6
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - 6
Andy Capp – 5
Geech – 5

Adventure strips of course continue their downfall this year with a drop of 9.3%. Of course, the big loser was Turtles losing 6 papers. The Popeye daily in 1992 went into reruns. 

Alley Oop – 32 (1)
Amazing Spider-Man – 16 (-1)
Mark Trail – 14 (-1)
Phantom – 14 (-1)
Dick Tracy – 11 (-3)
Brenda Starr – 9 (1)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – 8 (-6)
Steve Roper and Mike Nomad – 7 (0)
Mickey Mouse – 6 (-1)
Little Orphan Annie – 3 (-2)
Rip Kirby – 3 (0)
Flash Gordon – 1 (0)
Modesty Blaise – 1 (0)
Popeye – 1 (0)

Again, the Soap Strips continue their slow decline, but with this year showing little movement, down just 1.2%. 

Mary Worth – 54 (-1)
Rex Morgan – 43 (-2)
Judge Parker – 24 (-1)
Apartment 3-G – 15 (1)
Gil Thorp – 10 (1)
Heart of Juliet Jones – 3 (0)
Winnie Winkle – 3 (0)